The present invention relates to fluid purification systems. In a particularly desirable embodiment, the present invention relates to a portable fluid filtration system for filtering aqueous liquids, particularly water.
Purification systems and filtration systems are used to provide cleaner water for drinking and other uses. Generally, filtration systems provide cleaner water and other fluids, including gases, by removing particulates from the fluids. Recently, filtration systems have been developed that can remove extremely small particles, including biological particles. As used herein, purification systems include any system, arrangement or apparatus that can be used to provide purer water or other fluids by mechanically filtering the water or by using any other arrangement or combination of arrangements including, but not limited to, chemical means for improving the quality of the water.
Most purification and filtration systems are not portable and are not easily packable. Such systems are not amenable to use by an individual when traveling, hiking or otherwise moving about. Current portable purification systems used for camping are referred to as pump-style water purification systems and require a plurality of components that must be assembled before use. Such systems require separate containers, hoses and pumps that must be connected and are not convenient and easy to use. Few, if any, of these portable purification systems provide an indication of the number of times that the system or the filtering component of such a system has been used. Therefore, a user of such a system is required to monitor the length of time that a filter or system has been used, the cumulative volume of liquid that has been filtered, or just simply guess at how long or how many times the filter has been used so that the user of the system can remember when to dispose of or replace the replaceable filtering component of the system at the end of the filtering component""s useful life.
What is needed in the art is a means of providing a user of a portable purification system an indication of the number of times a portable purification system or the replaceable filtering component of a portable filtration system has been used. What is further needed is a portable water filtration system that is easy and economical to use, that gives an individual using the portable water filtration system an indication as to how many times the filtering component of the portable filtration system has been used, and that provides a simple means of warning a user of the system as to when to change the filtering component or to dispose of the system.
The present invention provides a mechanism that indicates the number of times the cover has been removed and replaced onto a container and, thus, indirectly provides an indication of the number of times the filter has been used and the cumulative volume of liquid that has been filtered. The mechanism can be reset when a replaceable arrangement for purifying, for example a filter, is replaced. In one embodiment, the present invention is a portable purification system that comprises a container, a cap removably fitted to the container, and an arrangement for indicating the number of times that the cap has been has been fitted to the container. In another embodiment, the portable purification system of the present invention comprises a container defining an opening; a cap adapted to close the opening and being removably fitted to the container; a filter; and an arrangement for indicating the number of times that the cap has been has been fitted to the container.
In at least one desirable embodiment, the present invention is a portable water purification system that eliminates the need for an individual to carry or locate safe water. In this desirable embodiment, the purification component of the system removes harmful cysts and bacteria. The purification component can be replaced or the entire system can be discarded when the purification component ceases to function effectively. Alternatively, the purification component can be substituted with a new purification component for a particular desired use or can be substituted with a purification component including chemical purification means or a combination of any such purification components or purification means for another particular desired use.
In another embodiment, the indication mechanism also has an automatic ejection feature that indicates the end of the useful life of the purification component of the system and automatically ejects the purification component, for example a filter, from the cap assembly.